Rizanne is one of the most organised brides I've come across. As a graphic designer, she personally designed all the wedding stationery, compiled lists, maps and directions for everyone involved in the wedding and had about 20 piles of labelled goodies neatly stacked at Blackheath Lodge in Seapoint when I arrived to shoot some getting ready action. 

The predicted 'light South-Easter' was actually more like a gale force wind - I usually like a bit of wind for motion of hair and veils, but this was more like a rip-the-veil-apart type wind... so it turned out that the most sheltered place for photos was the undercover parking lot at The 12 Apostles .

James and Rizanne and hugely cute together and totally prove that true love can be found in a dark corner of a wine bar...Oblivion in Claremont was the place where it all started a few years back! 

On a different topic - for any blog-stalkers out there, you'll notice that we've added a comments section now so if you've been wanting to leave any comments, you can do so. I'd love to know who's reading this and to get some feedback!

A large number of friends and family came out from Brussels, England and Canada to witness Rachel and Dan committing their lives to each other in the tiny chapel at the Grande Roche Hotel in Paarl. It was a truly 'happy to be in Africa day' - a down-to earth and fun couple, beautiful sunshine, a braai overlooking the Paarl mountains and an amazing percussion band Abavuki , who set  the African vibe. The guests were entertained with a wine-tasting session while Rachel and Dan went off to have their creative couple shots, which I thought was a brilliant idea too!

A few shots from the day:

It never ceases to amaze me how much the Internet has changed our lives and what a powerful means of communication it is. Caroline and David met on an internet site a few years back and seem to be absolutely perfect together.

I felt like I really was in Provence for their English-style wedding at Le Petite Dauphine - a gorgeously quaint and intimate venue just outside of Franschhoek. Every detail was organised to perfection by Wedding Concepts and the summer day flowed by beautifully and without any hitches. 

I have to admit that I was a bit daunted to shoot Nick and Sam's wedding as Nick is apparently a bit of a hotshot photographer himself! Anyway, I was really looking forward to it as they're not your average kind of couple and were looking for images that were 'unwedding-gy' and a little bit different.

The private location just outside of Hermanus was stunning, the guests were colourful and arty, the vibe was so relaxed and unconventional, and I think that this is one of the first times I've seen a FIVE course meal served... ALL DELICIOUS! 

One of the reasons I found this wedding so chilled out was that Sam and Nick had left 2 hours between the ceremony and reception. They served loads of yummy canapes so that no one was too ravenous and it gave them time to mingle and socialise for a while with their guests as well as having plenty of time for family and couple shots...too often people don't leave enough time and then it's a mad rush to get to the reception.

Anyway, enough babbling, here are some images from the day: 

Fatima and David are like lovestruck teenagers with each other, it's beautiful to see. Their wedding was held at Le Jardin, a cosy venue hidden away in the Devon Valley in Stellenbosch. Simply bright details, a stunning bride who carried herself so gracefully (in shoes I couldn't even imagine standing in), a laidback groom in a white suit, a chilled out vibe and hundreds of bottles of mineral water consumed on a cooking mid-summer's day by an intimate mix of friends and family from SA and abroad... all made for a gorgeous and fun day! 

I'm really lucky that the people who like my style and hire me tend to be genuine, funky and relaxed people. Claire and Claude are one of those super-special couples who take that to the extreme. 

Their ceremony was held at St Michael's Church in Rondebosch by a very cool priest, Father Harry, who said that it was only because Claire was so charming that she managed to get him and the band into church on their day off. He talked about how he has orchestrated so many weddings, yet never gets bored of them as every wedding is unique and special in their own way. This is so true and one of the reasons why I love what I do.

Claire and Claude's day certainly was special and unique. I felt like I had known them for years and was a guest with a camera and had a GREAT time. Even being rear-ended outside the cricket grounds, 500m away from Kelvin Grove  which,incidentally is a very nice reception venue) didn't put a dampner on the day. Cricket fans were entertained by the smash and then a women on a mission charging up Campground Road with her camera gear to take family and couple shots. Thanks to the bridesmaids for their provision of rescue remedy.

An AWESOME wedding guys, what more can I say? 

It was yet another scorcher of a day when Mary and I headed out to the Winelands for Carin and Shaun's wedding. They had a small and intimate wedding at Grande Provence - a surprisingly funky venue in Franschoek. The day was beautifully chilled out as Carin was such a relaxed bride and every detail was perfectly organised by Aleit .

Mary and I headed out to Grabouw on a cooking summer's day for Chris and Simonne's wedding, which was held at Chris' family fruit farm, Eikenhof. The location was amazing and Chris and Sim are some of the most relaxed and down-to-earth people I've worked with, it was truly a pleasure to be at their wedding. Simonne wrote the nicest email the next day and since I'm told I don't do enough blowing of my own trumpet, thought I'd start to do so!

"Hi Jules
I just wanted to thank you so much for being there at our wedding.  We really feel we found a winner when we got you! It makes such a difference having someone there who is relaxed and professional, especially when you are with us for a lot of the day.  I absolutely loved having you there and feel I had known you for years.  We couldn’t have been happier or rave about you enough. We will definitely be recommending you to our friends.Also, please thank Mary – she was an absolute star and you two work really well together."

Anyway, once again, hard to narrow down!   

Tanya and John live in the Kalahari and came especially to Cape Town for their beautifully small and intimate wedding at Blaauklippen in Stellenbosch. It was a gorgeous day which ended in a stunning dinner arrangement, perfectly organised by their friend, Jadri. A few shots from their day: 

So much for the 'trying to cut down on the number of images that I post' thing! Anna and Fabian's wedding at Vrede en Lust was organised to perfection by Wedding Concepts in Cape Town. A good-looking couple, great guests, a stunning venue, SO many cool details... all on a cracker of a day in Franschoek.. it was hard to narrow down!

It's first time I've shot a wedding on New Year's eve and atlhough I'm not 18 anymore and not really into the whole 'humdinger of a party vibe (usually a 'braai' with a few close friends is what goes down!), was feeling a bit loserish at having to work. It was actually the best way to spend the evening...being part of a bunch of people loving the dance floor, laughing, drinking Champagne and smoking cuban cigars was really fun!

Anyway, here's  'just a few':

 

December's been one big hectic whirlwind and I have to admit that I was wondering why I had agreed to go up to Joburg for a wedding with so much happening in Cape Town. A whole load of emails had been sent between Cape Town and Dubai, where Nicole and Guiseppe live... but I hadn't had the opportunity to meet these guys until about 30 minutes before the ceremony during a frenzy of last minute activity.

The internet is a phenomenal communication tool, but there is always an element of surprise when actually meeting someone who you can only associate with an email address. So I was blown away when it turned out that Nicole looked like this: 

Aside from being gorgeous, they were a dream couple to shoot, completely relaxed, fun and didn't bat an eyelid getting next to a rusty container or going traipsing through the bushveld. And...when I asked what they wanted, they replied : 'anything different' - a photographer's dream to hear those words!

What a stunning African/Italian evening - Thank you for flying me up for the ocassion! Here are just a few more:

Marlinda and Guillaume are such a lovely and relaxed couple and their wedding day was just the same. They had a small and intimate mid-morning ceremony under the oak trees at Morgenhof in Stellenbosch followed by lunch. Because the ceremony was going to finish at midday with harsh sunlight, they decided to see each other before their ceremony at her parent's farm near to Stellenbosch to take a few photos of them together. I'm trying to cut down on the number of images I post online so here are a few from their day: 

 

Wow, it's been a crazy few weeks - trips up to Joburg, Christmas, family coming to stay in Cape Town, and a whole lot of shooting at some very cool weddings... so I'm a bit behind on the blogging front!

Maryke and Charles booked me from London without having met me so it was great to discover what an awesome couple they are. They got married in a town close to Durbanville called Philedelphia that I never even knew existed, on what must have been the hottest day of 2007. Despite the heat, they were still up for stopping at some of the farm fields in the area to take some shots. There are many more photos from the wedding including cows and lots of 'langarm' going down, but here are just some of my favourites:

 I went up to Joburg last week especially for Justine and Justin's wedding - everytime I'm up there it seems to be bucketing down with rain. What a dream wedding to shoot - a radiantly gorgeous couple who love the camera and who are completely besotted with each other. Justine was ready with plenty of time to spare so I had loads of time to get some awesome bridal portraits, which was a change from the usual mad pre-ceremony rush. Their Jewish ceremony was followed by one HUGE party... these guys know how to get down on the dance floor!

I struggled to narrow down the pics so there are quite a few...

After a very long year of doing the long-distance thing between Cape Town and Adelaide, Nadia and Andrew exchanged vows underneath a big oak tree at Little Stream in Constantia. The balmy summer evening was perfect for their picnic-style reception that was held on rolling meadow-esque lawns.

Nadia is my sister-in-law and as well as being a hotshot opthamologist, she's one of the biggest free-spirited kids I know...you guys are so complete together and it's awesome to be part of your family and to see you two married at last!